


Heavy Rain

by Bearslayer



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mention of Character Death, Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 23:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6097891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bearslayer/pseuds/Bearslayer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet car ride home after a day of heavy hearts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heavy Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt received on my shiny new tumblr;   
> http://mindlessgothamite.tumblr.com/  
> Feel free to prompt me there or comment here.

Rain crashed against the roof of the car, cascading over the windshield with a fury that befitted the tone of the day. They had buried her at noon, without the ceremony and grandeur she deserved, without throngs of people spilling their grief over her perfectly prepared body laid in a gold and red coffin. Gertrud Kapelput had been laid to rest without priest or ritual, in a plot dug by Gabriel and Oswald early that morning. Gabriel had offered to do it himself, but the boss had insisted despite his deformed leg.

Oswald had spent the night painstakingly looking over her body; stitching the wound that had taken her from him, changing her into her favorite dress and adornments, fixing up her hair, and gathering her favorite flowers to place in the simple wooden box that would guard her from the earth for a little while. He didn’t say a word as she was lowered into the ground, wouldn’t shed a tear. He only stood as still as the grave below, watching as she left his sight one last time. Only when the first shovel full had been dropped did the rain begin. It was as if God himself wept for the small man who had suffered so much; Gabriel was sure that Gertrud was at His side gushing over her little boy. 

 

Now, on the ride back, both men muddy and soaked to the bone, Gabe could hear his boss in the back seat singing gently, shivering with cold.

 

“Nothing will warm me more, then my, my mother’s love…”

 

Gabriel frowned softly as he pulled into the safe-house, parking inside the small carport that barely fit Penguin’s town car. Flicking the overhead light on, he looked into the back seat.

Oswald was curled up across the seats, suit jacket draped over his small, frail-looking body, one hand masking the side of his face that would otherwise be visible. Gabriel had seen him unconscious, beaten, bloodied, but never before had he seen him look so vulnerable. Opening the front door, he scooted his large frame out and opened up the back door at his boss’ feet.

“Hey, c'mon boss. We should get inside and get changed. We’re both gonna catch a cold.” He told him gently, not wanting to jar the man.

“You can go. Leave me here. I don’t want to move.” Oswald managed, voice catching in his throat.

Was he crying now, finally? Allowing himself to feel?

“I can’t do that boss. You’re gonna get sick and we got business to attend to.” Gabe reasoned, looking into the car at his tiny form, made tinier by the clinging, wet clothing. Oswald was usually so composed, so focused on projecting a powerful, well put together image. He had always said that appearances were important… It was something his mother had taught him.

“Leave me alone, Gabe!” He choked out, pulling the jacket up over his face. This wouldn’t do.

"I can’t, boss. She ain’t gonna avenge herself.” The larger man said softly, shifting himself into the car a little, awkwardly, reaching in to pull the slight body towards him. “If I have to carry you inside and get you changed myself I will.”

Though Oswald didn’t resist being pulled, he didn’t help the process either, body limp and dead-weight. When Gabriel got him to the edge of the car, he had to lean down in order to scoop him up.

That’s when something unexpected happened. The second his face was close enough, a pair of slim, long-fingered hands were on his cheeks, and a pair of thin, chapped lips were on his, kissing him with a hunger that was almost as surprising as the act itself. Gabriel’s eyes went wide and his grip on Oswald faltered just enough for the disgraced mob boss to begin to tug him back into the car with him.

Gabriel contemplated breaking the kiss for a split second before deciding against it – he knew Oswald was an emotional man, and that there was nothing romantic about this. He was trying to let his emotions out but was unable to do so in a way that wasn’t rash. The tense desperation in the way he pulled at him, one hand gripping his cheek and the other at the front of his jacket, the way Oswald didn’t close his eyes, the way his chest heaved and trembled beneath Gabe; all these things communicated more then words could.

He returned the kiss as it was inflicted on him, one hand bracing against the seat and the other holding the bird-like creature off of it. It was only when he felt a hand slip down to his waistline and up the hem of his untucked shirt that Gabriel broke the kiss. He stopped the hand and pulled it out, shaking his head slightly.

“No, Oswald. Not like that.” He mumbled, cupping the man’s cheek. “I know you’re hurting, but this isn’t the way you wanna handle it. If you wanna cry, cry. If you wanna yell, go ahead. Punch me if it’ll help, okay? Just not that. It’d only make you hate yourself and she wouldn’t want that.”

Oswald stared at him for a moment, crystalline eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Neutrality turned to unbridled despair in the blink of an eye, the quivering of a lower lip signaled the coming of a sob that broke Gabriel’s heart. It was animalistic, shrill, heavy with a soul-deep pain that Gabe hoped he never had the ability to comprehend. Without a word, Gabriel once again pulled at the man, trying to pull him into his arms.

Oswald fought him, this time, striking his chest with white knuckled fists over and over. The blows were sharp and stung, but the larger man did nothing to deflect them. The way he saw it, this was healthier for Oswald. He held his bosses shoulders, losing track of how many times he lashed out, but after a moment he was done, slumping into his likely bruised torso with a whimper. Fingers that had just been inflicting some small measure of violence instead gripped his shirt, pointed nose jamming into the spot between Gabriel’s chest and collarbone.

Gabe shifted, wrapping his arms more fully around the man, allowing him to weep into him as he sank back to the concrete floor of the car port. He rocked him like one would an inconsolable child, eyes slipping shut.

“Let it out… Let it all out.” Gabriel mumbled as he rocked him, holding the trembling man to his chest.

Only when the sounds of whimpered despair tapered off did Gabe pull back to look at Oswald. His face was puffy and red, but his eyes were closed and his breathing steady and peaceful.

Smiling softly, Gabe gathered Oswald into his arms to take him into the house. He would care for him as he slept, and watch over him until the morning.

It’s what she would have wanted.


End file.
